How difficult can it be to successfully prosecute one former gang member on terrorism charges? Apparently, it's quite difficult if the defendant is named Jose Padilla. You may remember the name. It was Padilla who, according to Bush administration officials, intended to make a horrible mess somewhere in the United States with a “dirty bomb” when he was arrested at Chicago in May 2002.

To editors, it was a story worthy of the front page. It said that cemeteries in San Diego County and across the United States have been the target of thieves who were stealing bronze vases from graves, ostensibly to sell them as scrap to recyclers.